Reading at Somerville

At Somerville we are a reading school, where all children and adults read for pleasure and can share in the joy of books. All classrooms have a reading corner with a wide selection of books, and the children are free to borrow and change these books as often as they please. Our new school library houses beautiful books and has a catalogue system which allows our children to take ownership of their reading experience. Children can also ‘borrow’ books to read on a tablet. The library is open before and after school for parents to visit with their children, as well as every lunch time.

In KS1 we follow the Oxford Reading Tree, Project X Code and Rigby Star schemes. Children read aloud to a member of staff every week. All children (including KS2) are assigned a book to take home which appropriate for their reading level. These books are to be read aloud to family and quietly to themselves. We encourage all family members to comment on reading through the use of home reading journals/planners.

At least one lesson per week is devoted explicitly to reading and reading comprehension. Each child also has a weekly session of guided reading to develop specific skills. Some of the guided reading sessions are run like a ‘book club’ so children may take home these novels to read before discussing them back at school.